Banggai Breeding Interest

[urchinkiller15]

I recently found an interest in breeding fish so I am trying to learn as much as I can about it so I can convince my parents ( I'm in high school) to let me. Everyone breeds clowns so I don't really want to breed them. I have pajama cardinals but I heard they are very difficult to breed. In conclusion, that is why I decided I would want to breed Banggai's. I just have a few questions-
1. Where is the best place to get a pair of Banggai's without having to get a bunch of them and let them pair out?
2. Can the fry be fed something other than live baby brine shrimp? If so, what is best?
3. How often should I do a water change on the fry tank?

 

["Umm fish?"]

Good luck on your Bangaiis!

1. I think the absolute best place to pick up a pair is from a fellow reefer getting rid of a pair or a local breeder who can help you with captive bred fish. My current pair came from an aquarium maintenance company that was rotating the pair out of a customer's tank. That said, talk to the people at your LFS and see if they'll help you out. They can often help you create a pair, or will let you take and return fish until you get a pair of your own made. Try to go with captive-bred if you can, though.

2. Frank Marini claims that people are having success with prawn roe as a first food. I've not fed any live food to the set I'm raising now (though they very likely were able to pick off the natural plankton in the tank). Mine were willing to take DT's oyster eggs, Rod's Food, frozen brine shrimp binder (the red stuff the brine shrimp is frozen with), and cyclopeeze all within the first couple of days and Otohime B1 and Dragonfeed's 500-1000 micron food within a couple of days after that.

I don't have much experience with them yet, but my personal feeling is that a pretty decent sized current in the larvae tank--with lots of obstructions for the fry to hide behind and get some calmer water--helped my fry to accept frozen food floating by in the current as possible prey items.

3. Depends on how your water quality is doing. My fry (and their parents) are growing up in a large tank that hasn't had a water change in over a year, though I did add about twenty gallons of replacement water from a leak a couple of months ago. But, my tank has a well established biofilter. Your mileage may vary.

 

[Scott M]

Tagging along, I've always been interested in this and I just got a small school of PJ's in my 300 reef.

 

["Umm fish?"]

PJs are not the same, though. Bangaiis hold the babies a week or so after they hatch, so the babies are each much larger on release. PJs release on hatch, so their first foods have to be much smaller. PJs have been raised but it's not as easy.

But, good luck! Don't let me discourage you too much. If you want it enough you should be able to figure it out.

 

[urchinkiller15]

One more question, can Banggais and Pajamas be in the same tank?

 

["Umm fish?"]

I've never tried it, but I doubt it.

 

[urchinkiller15]

Ok. Maybe I will have to try breeding the Pajamas. I really doubt my parents will let me get rid of them to get Banggais.

 

[Atticus]

If you are willing to try PJ's I would suggest getting a nice pair of Orange A. Ocellaris (False Perculas). Their fry require similar feeds and treatment. The clowns are just a bit easier. Even if you are not ready to takle clowns right now, it takes 6-18 months to get a pair spawning and by then you might be ready and you won't have to wait.